TUFF: Team Katswell Episode 1
by Jonathan83X
Summary: This in a sense is a more mature and thematic version of the pilot episode from the T.U.F.F Puppy series. It also focuses on Kitty more than Dudley, who is more competent in this version than his cartoon counterpart.
1. The Kruger Rat Heist

Disclaimer: All the characters in this story are copyright of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and the owners of the FC's used in here.

Author Note: I did not write this story, but merely edited and enhanced it. The original author and story can be found on Deviantart at this account name: TUFFandTMNT.

Episode 1: Purr-fect Partners.

On a beautiful Sunday in Petropolis, California. There was a tour going on at the Petropolis Museum of Natural History, looking at the a priceless artifact of great power. The Tour Guide was none other than a familiar tan female feline with pink hair, wearing a standard outfit for the job.

"And over here is the Petropolis Museum's most famous possession: the Krueger Rat." She explained, pointing at the artifact with her right palm.

The tourists quickly let out an impressed, "Oooooh" in response, as they all admired it with great intrigue. A few even took a couple of snapshots from their digital cameras.

"Made of rare ratamantium, legend has it that when the full moon hits its' emerald eyes," the tour guide female cat continued, "And when that happens, this artifact is capable of hypnotizing rats to do whatever bidding the holder of this thing says."

"Can this artifact really do that to rats?" A tourist nearby asked with arched eyebrows.

"Yes indeed." The female cat tour guide answered firmly. "It can be a tool for great evil in the wrong hands."

Moments after finishing that sentence, an explosion was heard from above, causing the tourists to scatter in a panic, as many glass shards from the skylight littering the carpet from the aftermath.

"What in the world was that?" Another tourist asked with fear in his voice.

His question however was quickly answered within seconds. Out of nowhere, a crazy grey rat wearing a bluish-white lab coat came swinging down towards the ground with a hookshot tied to the roof in dramatic fashion.

"And that is precisely why I'm stealing it!" the evil rat declared seconds after landing nearby the Kruger Rat display, his arms held up high in glee.

"Who are you?" A tourist asked, still a bit startled from the blast.

The vile rat responded to question with a sly grin, "Who am I? Why, I'm the most EVIL mind in all of Petropolis!"

"The Chamelon?" another inquired.

Snaptrap looked at him with a slight annoyance. "No."

A third tourist spoke up, saying, "Birdbrain?"

Snaptrap again answered with an annoyed, "No."

"The Cane Toad?" A fourth one asked.

Snaptrap by this time was starting to lose his cool, again answering with another, "No."

"The Great White?" Another guessed.

"NO!" Snaptrap now was becoming completely unglured by their constant wrong answers.

A 6th one dared to guess as well, saying, "Ripclaw?"

Finally having enough of this, Snaptrap let out a yell of pure disgust, shouting, "Geez Louise, you all suck at guessing! I'm Verminious Snaptrap, dirty rat and leader of America's Diabolical Order of Mayhem!

To the vile rat's surprise, and irritation might I add, all the tourists said in unison, "Never heard of ya."

It was all Snaptrap could do to keep from cursing at them by this point, but instead, he bit his tounge and instead responded with a smirk, "Well, you WILL soon enough!" he then grabbed the rat in a one swift grab and added, "Because once I expose the Krueger Rat to the full moon, every rat in the area will be under MY control!"

Before Snaptrap could even take one step towards the exit, he heard a familar voice, one he sadly wasn't counting on that time.

"That's what you think, rat-face!" the female tour guide declared to him.

Within seconds, The tour guide ripped off her tour guide uniform to reveal herself as Kitty Katswell, a beautiful cat girl with tan fur, green eyes, and jet black hair held up by a white headband, wearing a grey jumpsuit over a white turtleneck sweater with matching white gloves and boots.*

Kitty quickly got into a martial arts pose soon afterwards, adding with a tone of authority, "Sorry to spoil your little moment, pal, but you're busted!

Snaptrap at first was heavily surprised by her sudden appearance, but quickly composed himself, saying with a smug look on his face, "Well, well, well if it isn't TUFF's No. 1 agent, Kitsandra Grey Katswell?" He then added while grabbing a nearby spear, "So, you ready to lose one of your nine lives?"

Kitty though kept her cool, retorting sharply, "I'd rather lose one of my ten claws, instead!

Seeing these claws deeply spooked the vile rat, as he quickly decided to take his chances escaping than fighting her.

"Oh no you don't! You're not getting away from me that easily!" the tan feline declared, pointing a finger at him while he fled the room.

Running as fast as he could, Snaptrap soon sees the exit door up ahead, where he quickly picks up the pace with his legs in an adreneline frenzy. Kitty during this time however chases after him furiously in hot pursuit, closing in with relative ease due to being faster. By the time they get near the door, Kitty is within three feet, where she then attempts to pounce on him from behind.

Unfortunately for her though, Snaptrap manages to get outside in time and then slams the door in her face, causing the tan feline agent to crash into it head on with a loud thud.

With a sly chuckle, the vile rat soon looks back with a sneer, saying arrogantly, "Too bad for you, furball! Better luck next time!"

And with that statement, Snaptrap ran towards the DOOM Mobile near the curb, chuckling to himself, as his D.O.O.M henchmen were waiting for him.

"You get the artifact, Snaptrap?" Larry inquired.

"Yup, I sure did, Larry." Snaptrap answered gleefully. "Now, floor it!"

Larry, Snaptrap's brother-in-law, a small, blue, nerdy-looking shrew wearing a green fleece, quickly complies and drives in a hurry.

A few seconds later, Kitty finally opened the door, staggering out with a look of pain and rage on her face.

"Okay, Snaptrap..." She said with a fierce hiss. "You want to play cat and mouse with me? Then I'm game!"

Pressing a specialized button on her outfit, Kitty quickly activated her rocket skates on her feet, where she then blasted off in hot pursuit once again.

While this was going on, Snaptrap was in a sense patting himself for a job well done.

"Okay, let's return to DOOM HQ, and report to General Guar that we've got the Krueger Rat,  
he told his henchmen, "and are now ready for Phase 2 of our plan."

Not even thirty seconds after he said this, Ollie, a British possum wearing a light blue turtleneck and pants, and a purple jacket with matching hat, notices Kitty behind them.

"Um, boss?" the possum said with deep hesistation in his voice, "I hate to bearer of bad news, but it appears Agent Katswell is in hot pursuit. She looks pretty ticked too."

Snaptrap soon looked back and saw the same thing, making him mutter with deep annoyance, "Oh brother... Don't those TUFF agents know when to call it a day?" He then looks in Bad Dog's direction, telling him firmly, "Get rid of her!"

Bad Dog, a big, white hound wearing a black tank top with a skull on it, soon replies with a nod, "You got it, boss!"

Bad Dog swiftly heads toward the back of the vehicle, opening up its doors and pulling out a bazooka launcher. Once it was over his right shoulder, he fires rocket after rocket at the feline agent in rapid succession.

Being T.U.F.F's #1 agent however, Kitty evades the explosives fired at her with relative ease, swaying left and right on the road, even jumping over a couple of them too. She then says after ten seconds of this, "Is that the best your men can shoot, Snaptrap? My mom has better aim than them!"

Within moments, Kitty finally pulls out her weapon, none other than a M79 Grenade Launcher, adding, "Here, let me show you how it's done, boys!"

Unfortunately for Kitty though, Larry was keeping a close eye on his mirrors while driving. The split second he saw her pull out the Grenade Launcher and fire at their tires, the nerdy shrew quickly reacted in a panic, swerving into the oncoming lane, evading the grenade by a mere foot. His troubles however were far from over, as a car in the oncoming lane quickly blared his horn at him for switching lanes, making the shrew swerve back into the right lane seconds later to avoid a head on collision. Larry swerved so abruptly however, it causes to Bad Dog to drop his Bazzoka Launcher onto the floor of the vehicle with a jolt, even almost losing it out the back door.

Deeply disgusted, Snaptrap soon walks up to the drives compartment and heavily smacks him upside the head for his actions, yelling, 'You moron! Are you trying to get us killed?

"I was trying to keep us from getting caught, Snaptrap." Larry replied angrily, while rubbing his head. "That grenade would have caused our vehicle to tip over from the blast."

"That's Bad Dog's job, stupid." The vile rat shot back firmly. "You just hold your line and drive us back to HQ as fast as you can without crashing. You got it?"

Now even more angry than Snaptrap, Larry answered back sharply at him, "Fine! Have it your way!"

While this was going on, Bad Dog finally reloads his weapon with several more rockets, saying with a tone of unease, "She's closing in fast, boss! I don't know how much longer I can keep her at bay."

"Keep her busy a little longer, Bad Dog." Snaptrap ordered. "I've got an idea."

Kitty meanwhile soon reloads her own weapon as well. Just then, she gets an idea as well, telling herself, "Ok, the street up ahead is very narrow with a ninety degree turn soon after. I'll wait until they have to slow down and then I'll easily blast em!"

Not even five seconds later, the D.O.O.M Mobile and Kitty soon made their way onto the narrow city street, with both Kitty and Snaptrap preparing to make their next move.

Snaptrap then turned to another of his henchmen to address him. "Billy?"

Billy, a white pigeon wearing blue jeans, a dark brown jacket over a black T-shirt and a scar over his right eye, flies towards Snaptrap, replying, "Yea...?"

"On my signal, hit the button to activate the smokescreen." The vile rat ordered.

Billy quickly nodded his head in response, saying, "Sure thing."

Snaptrap soon flashed another evil grin. "If we time this right," he explained to the his white pigeon henchman, "she'll crash into head on into an oncoming skyscraper, SPLAT!, like a pancake."

"Oh, I like the sound of that." Billy chimed in, soon flashing an evil grin of his own.

Ten more seconds soon passed, with both the D.O.O.M Mobile and Agent Katswell now halfway down the narrow street. Once Snaptrap saw this himself, he said to Billy, "Get into position now. It's showtime."

Billy swiftly did just that, where he soon had his right wing on the button, replying with a nod, "Ready to go, boss."

During this time, Bad Dog again fired numerous rockets to keep Kitty back, but it sadly was completely futile. No matter how many he fired at the tan feline agent, she kept evading and closing in, now within five feet of their vehicle, pointing her weapon at it a 2nd time.

Moments later, both Kitty and Snaptrap say something in almost unision fashion. "Takedown, in 3… 2… 1…"

Unfortunately for the both of them, their plans were abruptly interuppted. Out of nowhere, a car from the right side of a driveway soon darts out in front of the Buggy, but greatly mistimes their approach, now on a collison course with the D.O.O.M Mobile. Larry during this time sees it and greatly panics, but holds his line for fear of getting smacked again. Needless to say, both cars soon collide violently with each other in a sideswipe, with the smaller car recieving major damage to its right side as result D.O.O.M Mobile's front spikes, causing it to spin out of control and come to a stop in the middle of the road with smoking pouring from its engine.

Snaptrap, heavily startled by this jolt, again heads towards the driver comparment, demanding, "What in the world was that, Larry?! Don't tell me you just crashed into another vehicle!"

"Hey, you told my line, and so I did." Larry countered.

Larry's actions sadly again come with repercussions, as the hood of the D.O.O.M Mobile also receives enough damage to close several intakes of the radiator, causing an alarming rise in water temperature. Even Bad Dog abruptly drops his weapon onto the pavement as a result of the heavy jolt as well. Kitty herself is also greatly affected by this, where she quickly has no choice to but to take evasion action by leaping over the stalled car in front of her and then slamming on the brakes to slow her speed down.

Not surprisingly, Snaptrap is completely fed up with his brother in law's driving, muttering angrily, "Larry, I swear when we get back, I'm going to…"

The vile rat cannot finish that thought, as he soons sees the sharp turn up ahead, shouting in horror, "Slow down, you idiot! You're going too fast!"

Larry soon sees this himself and slams on the brakes as hard as can, but also tries to take the turn as sharp as possible to keep Kitty from closing in, resulting in the D.O.O.M Mobile near flipping over on two wheels, as it careens down another narrow street. Kitty meanwhile slows down enough to keep from crashing herself, where she then gives chase again.

Once Snaptrap looks back and see her still trailing them, he quickly lets out a frustrated groan, muttering, "That persistent feline just won't give up! I'm getting sick of this!"

"Cool your jets, boss." Billy told him with a look of confidence on his face. "I'll get rid of her for ya."

"Oh yea, and how you going to do that?" the vile rat demanded.

To Snaptrap's surprise and horror, Billy grabs the Kruger Rat from a nearby seat, answering, "Simple, I'll just need to use a little bait is all..."

Snaptrap however becomes completely unglued by this response, shouting, "What are you, nuts? You can't use that thing! I need that artifact for my plan!"

"Relax, boss. I know what I'm doing." Billy assuered him. "Just sit tight and leave it to me."

Before Snaptrap could say another word to him, the white pigeon quickly flew to the back of the D.O.O.M mobile. He then looks Bad Dog in the eye, telling him, "I'll take care of this feline agent. You release the smokescreen as soon as I say the words, "You're too slow." Got it?"

Not surprisingly, Bad Dog is greatly perplexed by this plan of his, but concedes nonetheless, replying, "All right, but you better not mess this up." He soon added pointing a finger in his face, "The boss will have your head if you lose that artifact. "

Bad Dog quickly heads towards the middle compartment, where Billy soon whistles towards Kitty, now moments away from firing her M79 again. This causes her to momentarily look on puzzled, lowering her weapon.

"Hey, fish breath! Looking for this?" Billy shouted at her, holding up the artifact up high. "Well, if you want it, come and try to take it out of my wing. I know your jet shoes are fast enough to do the job."

Kitty however doesn't bite at his dare, retorting, "You think I'm gonna fall for that little ploy of yours?" Swiftly pointing her M79 at the D.O.O.M Mobile again, she adds with a fierce look on her face, "Guess again! I'm going to blast that vehicle of yours for good this time!"

To her surprise, Billy doesn't flinch at her threat one iota, saying with a shrug, "Fine, then I'll just fly away with it if you dare try to shoot at our buggy again."

Snaptrap inadventently hear this, making him shout in horror, "You'll what? Are you mad?"

"You won't be able to retrieve the Krueger Rat so easily if I do that." Billy explained smugly to the tan feline, completely ignoring his boss' protests. "So what's it going to be, agent? You want this artifact back or not? The choice is yours."

This time, Kitty unfortunately bites on his words, as she quickly puts away her M79 and pulls out a hookshot, soon shouting boldly, "Fine, you're on, bird. In fact, I'll show you just how easy I can snatch that thing out of your hands."

A split second later, Kitty fires it at the back of the buggy, latching it on their bumper.

"Wow, what impressive skills you have there, agent." Billy stated with dripping sarcasm. "I'm really shaking in my feathers now."

"I'll shut you up soon enough, punk!" the tan feline shot back.

And with that statement, Kitty pressed the button, where the hookshot soon quickly reels her in towards the Buggy.

Billy again kept his composure, inquiring with smug arrogance, "Is that the best you can do? Man, you are way too slow."

Bad Dog instantly reacts to those words in a heartbeat, pressing a button to release the smokescreen. Kitty during this time has closed to within three feet of the vehicle, but is soon overtaken by the massive smoke from the intake, causing her to heavily cough, even making her eyes sting.

By this point, Billy looked on with a completely full blown sneer, saying arorgantly, "Sucker… I knew you couldn't resist if I egged ya on enough." He then adds while cutting her hookshot rope, "Looks like you lose this round, agent."

Once the rope was cut, Billy closed the doors of the D.O.O.M Mobile and headed back towards the middle. Another sharp turn meanwhile soon approaches, where Larry this time makes it at a safer speed after seeing the massive smokescreen from behind. The same could not be said for the tan feline. After their vehicle made the turn safely, the smoke soon dissapated, where Kitty now saw a new problem in front of her: A large building.

Kitty quickly screamed in shock at the sight of this, trying desperately to cut the jets on her shoes and again attempts to slam on the brakes and slow down. This time however, she would not be able to. Intsead, she abruptly trips over the nearby sidewalk and crashes hard into the building, smacking it face first with an abrupt thud.

Snaptrap again looked back and now saw Kitty was no longer trailing them, making the vile rat laugh with a hearty glee, "I don't believe it! Billy's plan actually worked!"

"Of course it did." Billy replied with a look of satisfaction, now back in the middle compartment. "As if there were any doubt..."

"Well, I'm going to see to it you get a big reward for your valiant efforts." Snaptrap told him proudly. "You really earned your keep today."

"I should certainly say so." The white pigeon retorted smugly. He then added after a brief pause, "Oh, by the way, having the smokescreen with a scent of honey mustard mixed in with the coal? A nice touch there if I do say so myself."

"I'm glad you like it." Snaptrap replied. "Since smokescreens are so handy for helping me evade annoying T.U.F.F Agents, they might as well have a good smell to them."

Meanwhile, back near the building, Agent Katswell soon slid down onto the sidewalk flat on her back, groaning heavily in pain while placing a hand on her forehead.

"I should have known that was a trap." She muttered to herself angrily. "I can't believe I let that stupid bird outsmart me easily back there. That is so not like me."

Kitty then stood up and attempted to reactivate her jet shoes again and try to track Snaptrap down a second time. Unfortunately though, they would not start, as they were too badly damaged from the collision, instead sputtering again and again.

After they sputtered for over twent seconds, Kitty shouted in disgust, "Drat! Just my luck…"

Moments later, Kitty's wrists communicator soon goes off, revealing it be none other than the Chief.

"Kitty, were you able to take down Snaptrap in your sting operation?" The Chief inquired.

The tan feline sighed heavily in response, telling him, "Sadly, no. He used a smokescreen on me after I got baited into a trap and paid dearly for it. I'm no longer able to give chase since the jets on my shoes are busted."

Surprisingly, the Chief was not as upset about this as Kitty was, saying, "I see… well, we'll deal with him and his men later. Right now, return to base. I've got another assignment for you at the moment."

"10-4, sir." Kitty answered, soon turning off her wrist communicator afterwards.

And with that, the tan feline walked back towards T.U.F.F with a slight limp. Kitty then muttered with a hiss while staggering back slowly, "That rat and bird of his are going to pay dearly for making a fool out of me. I swear it…"


	2. The New Recruit

Chapter 2

Halfway back towards T.U.F.F HQ, a green, bone-shaped chew toy came bouncing abruptly in front of the tan feline as she walked.

"Huh? Where'd this thing come from?" Kitty asked herself with puzzlement.

Needless to say, she got her answer quickly, as a large white dog with blue eyes wearing a black shirt came charging towards her, knocking the tan feline onto her back with an abrupt thud. This dog soon grabbed his toy a few seconds later, declaring triumphantly in the air, "Got it!"

However, when he turned around, he now saw Kitty lying on her back, trying to get up with a painful moan. And so, in an attempt to be a gentlemen, this large white dog offered his right hand to help her up, saying sheepishly, "Sorry, ma'am. I didn't see you there. Forgive me."

Not surprisingly, Kitty was in no mood to be forgiving at the moment, demanding angrily after she was on her feet again. "Aren't you a little old to be playing with chew toys?" She then muttered under her breath while dusting herself off, "As if this day can't get any worse…"

"Hey, I said I was sorry." He told her, deeply offended by her response. "What more do you want from me?"

Kitty though just shrugged her shoulders, replying with a heavy sigh, "Never mind… I'm not in the best of moods right now, so please don't take it too personal if I seem cross at the moment."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." The large white dog said with sympathy.

Moments later, Kitty soon studied this dog's appearance, stating, "You look familiar. Have we met before?"

"Well, I know this may seem hard to believe, but I graduated from T.U.F.F Academy three weeks ago." He explained, beaming with pride about that accomplishment.

"T.U.F.F Academy? That's the agency I work for." Kitty told him.

This dog now looked at her with deep intrigue once he heard this, inquiring, "No kidding?" After taking a good look at her himself, he added with a smile, "Hey, you were with the Chief when they were handing out the diplomas. You're one of their top agents, am I right?"

"Yea, that's right." Kitty answered with a nod. After a long pause, the tan feline then frowns heavily at him, saying, "Wait a second… I remember you now. You were that graduate who was chewing his butt on the stage during his speech."

"Yea, that was me all right…" he replied, now rubbing the back of his neck with a slight chuckle. "I do that when I get nervous at times."

Needless to say, Kitty was not the least bit impressed, but instead replied as nicely as she could, "How interesting…"

After a long pause, this large white dog asked her hesitantly, "So, um, what's your name?"

"I rather not say." The tan feline replied a bit gruffly. "No offense, but I just don't have time to chit chat now."

"Oh, c'mon!" he pleaded. "You can spare me at least two minutes. Besides, what's the harm in telling me? I did graduate from your academy after all…"

With a frustrated sigh and groan, Kitty finally relented, answering with an out of patience look, "Oh, fine, if you insist. I'm Kitty Katswell, T.U.F.F Puppy's #1 agent."

The split second he heard this, the large white dog let out a gasp, inquiring, "Wait, you mean THE Kitty Katswell? The same agent who's beat up twelve D.O.O.M agents by herself with her own bare hands about four months ago?"

"Yep, that's me." Kitty answered professionally with another nod.

Kitty was then taken a bit aback, as he soon said with deep, gushing admiration, "Oh my goodness, I've been so wanting to meet you for the longest time now! You're the reason I joined the academy to begin with."

"Is that so?" the tan feline asked, now arching an eyebrow at him.

"I'm serious here!" He answered, now getting a bit irritated by her lack of friendliness. "After hearing about your heroics in the papers, I wanted to follow in your footsteps and help the agency out myself."

"Well, um, that's nice of you to say." Kitty stated, looking at him with a bit of awkwardness.

Another idea soon popped in this large white dog's head, asking her, "Hey, could you show me your badge real quick? Please…?"

Kitty at first resisted agreeing to his request, but reluctantly gave in after realizing he would keep pestering her until she did. The split second she pulled it out and he got a good look at it, the large white dog could not contain his excitement, stating with deep joy while rubbing his hand around the badge, "Oh, wow! That is so cool looking. You are so lucky, Agent Katswell."

"Uh, thanks…" By this point, his compliments were becoming more irritating than anything.

"After a long pause, he then added, "By the way, my name's Dudley Puppy, Agent Katswell. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Not wanting to be rude, Kitty soon shook Dudley's hand as well, though replying with nearly zero emotion in her voice, "Yea, nice to meet you too."

"The feeling is mutual." Dudley reiterated with a big smile on his face.

"Well, Dudley, I hope you don't take this wrong," the tan feline told him softly, "but I really must be heading back to HQ. See you later."

And with that, Kitty began to walk away.

"Wait, you're heading back to HQ?" Dudley inquired after she took about five steps.

Trying to keep her irritation from showing, Kitty answered softly while turning back to him, "Yes, why do you ask?"

Dudley quickly walked up to her, replying, "Well, could I ask a personal favor from you?"

"A personal favor? Like what exactly?"

Before Dudley could say answer back, Peg, Dudley's Mom, soon came by to see what all the commotion was about.

"Dudley! What the heck's going on?" she asked of him.

"Oh, hi Mom!" he greeted warmly. "I'd like you to introduce you to Kitty Katswell, the greatest TUFF agent….. Well, ever!"

Peg took a good look at the tan feline agent, soon saying with a warm smile of her own, Well, hello there, Mitzy. It's nice to meet you."

"It's Kitty." She responded with a look of annoyance.

Peg however brushed her off, saying, "Yea, whatever…" After a long pause, she then said to Kitty more firmly, "Anyhow, there's been something I've been meaning to ask. How come my Dudley hasn't been accepted as part of your agency yet?"

"Because you have to register first," Kitty explained respectfully. "and as far as I know, we haven't gotten any forms with your son's name on them."

"Wait, you mean you didn't sign up, yet?" Dudley's mother asked of him sternly. "Why not?"

Dudley looked at his mother with a sheepish expression on his face, answering, Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I'm THAT good to be an actual TUFF agent. Plus, I heard a lot don't get recruited even with a diploma from the academy even after they do register."

"Well, they only want the best there." The tan feline reiterated. "Can you blame them?"

"No, I guess I can't." Dudley then snapped his fingers and said with a smile, "Hey, maybe you could help me into the force."

"Excuse me?"

"If you give them a personal recommendation, Kitty, maybe I would get a shot at being a T.U.F.F agent." The large white dog explained.

This even put a smile on his mother's face, replying, "Why, that would be a splendid idea, Dudley."

Not surprisingly, Kitty wasn't thrilled by this idea at all, where she soon said awkwardly, "Um, look, Dudley, I don't mean to be rude here, but I don't think you would…"

"Oh, please give him a chance, Mitzy." Peg pleaded interrupting. "My Dudley is better than you think he is."

"Again, my name is Kitty, not Mitzy." The tan feline reiterated with a frown, not completely out of patience.

Peg though wouldn't get a chance to answer this, as Dudley now got on his knees and folded his hands together in front of her, begging, "Kitty, it would mean so much to me if you helped me out. All I'm asking is for one chance. Please…?"

Dudley soon even gave her sad puppy dog eyes, trying to play on her emotions. Needless to say, it did the job, as Kitty finally let out another out of patience groan after a long pause, replying sharply, "Oh all right…! I'll ask the Chief to interview you."

Instantly, the large white dog jumped into the air with deep elation, shouting, "Hi-gigee!" He even hugged Kitty as tightly as he could, adding, "Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet." Kitty retorted with a loud grunt, trying to get free of his grasp. "You're just getting a…"

Kitty though wouldn't get a chance to finish that sentence, as Dudley soon grabbed her by the arm and took off running, saying, "C'mon, let's be going. Time's awastin…"

Peg meanwhile watched on as they took off, as Kitty shouted in the distance, "Would you please slow down? You're going too fast for me!"

"Good luck, my son. " His mother said softly, beaming with pride.

* * *

An hour later at TUFF HQ, the Chief, an old flea named Herbert Dumbrowski, was now finishing up the interview, looking over Dudley's records from the TUFF Academy.

"Hmmm, let me see here…" he pondered out loud. "A black belt in three different martial arts. Speaks French fluently. Can bench-press 150. And… was in the TUFF Academy Glee Club?"

The Chief was taken a bit back by that last part of his resume to say the least.

Dudley though just shrugged his shoulders about it, explaining, "Yeah, it was an elective course. Either THAT or woodshop."

"Eh, that's okay." The Chief replied softly. "I took ballet class myself."

"Yeah, THAT kind of weirded me out, too." Kitty chimed in, currently grooming her claws with a nail file while sitting in a chair across the room.

After another long pause, the Chief soon looked up at the large white dog and stated, "Well, your resume looks impressive enough. And since Kitty asked me to interview you, I guess I'll give you a shot here to prove yourself."

As if on cue, Dudley again jumped into the air when he heard the great news, shouting ecstatically, "Sweet!"

"Settle down, newbie!" The Chief ordered him firmly after he landed. "Let's get one thing straight here: this will not be fun and games in the least. This agency is all about keeping Petropolis safe, and only the best of agents will be apart of the group. Do I make myself clear?"

Dudley though kept his composure in spite of being reprimanded, replying with a formal salute, "Crystal clear, Chief. I shall do my best make you proud."

Herbert now flashed a smile at Dudley, saying to his new recruit with a shake of his right paw, "All right then, Agent Puppy. Welcome aboard. I'm expecting big things from you."

"You can count on me, sir." Dudley stated boldly, this time more intense than before. "I won't let you down."

Kitty then stood up from her chair, saying nonchalantly a few seconds later, "Well, this has been fun. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to…"

The Chief however interrupted her, saying, "Hold on, Agent Katswell. I haven't excused you yet."

"But what else is there to say?" She asked with a frown. "He got the job, so now let him prove his worth with a veteran partner here."

"That's just it, Agent Katswell." The Chief reiterated, "I was about to assign you to be his new partner.

Needless to say, this caused a mixed reaction from both agents, with each saying in almost unison fashion, "PARTNERS?!"

"Are you insane?" Kitty demanded with deep disgust. "You're going to team me with a rookie agent?"

"I will not have you talking disrespectfully to me here, Agent Katswell." The Chief shot back at her with a tone of authority. "Don't forget, I am your superior."

Trying to keep her displeasure about this in check, the tan feline explained after a heavy sigh, "Look, Chief, I mean no disrespect to you here, but I don't I don't want any partners, let alone one who has yet to prove themselves." She then muttered angrily softly, "Not to mention their loyalty."

"Kitty, I know you're still bitter about what happened between you and Jack," The Chief replied, trying to be sympathetic, "but you're not going back out there to face Snaptrap without back-up! End of discussion."

Before Kitty could answer back, the Chief added, "Besides, since you recommended him to me, what better veteran for Agent Puppy to learn from than you?"

Kitty though wouldn't back down, retorting sharply, "I can beat Snaptrap without backup just fine, thank you. A partner would only slow me down."

"Oh, you mean like earlier when you got outsmarted by D.O.O.M with a smokescreen?" The Chief countered with arched eyebrows?"

This quickly silenced the tan feline, as she could only mutter under her breath while looking away angrily, "Touché…"

Dudley now spoke up, asking confused, "Who's Jack?"

"Jack Rabbit was my ex partner" Kitty answered gruffly. "He basically back-stabbed me during a mission we were on together. I really don't want to talk about it now."

Dudley's curiosity though got the best of him, asking again, "What did he do to you exactly?"

"I said I don't want talk about it!" Kitty yelled, glaring fiercely at him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to see Keswick abut something." She then added with a nod, "See you later…"

On most occasions, the Chief would have reprimanded her for this outburst, but didn't this time since he understood why she was so touchy about this issue. After another long pause, Dudley finally spoke up, stating perplexed, "Wow, she really sounds upset about it to yell like that." He then turned to look at his new boss and asked, "Chief, can you tell me what this Jack Rabbit guy did to hurt her so much?"

"Eh, It's a LONG and complicated story, Agent Puppy." Herbert explained with a sympathetic sigh. "Maybe when we don't have too much going on, Kitty well tell you all the details, if you can win her over that is…"

"I see…" In spite of her recent outburst, the large white dog vowed to win the respect of his new comrade by any means necessary, stating boldly, "Well, hopefully that shouldn't take too long."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kitty walked back to her cubicle, slowly sitting down in her chair with a heavy sigh. She soon pulls out a picture of her and Jack that she secretly keeps in bottom part of the drawer. Within seconds of gazing at the picture, many tears began to form in her eyes, as the memories about him slowly begin to eat at her yet again.

"Oh Jack…" she said with a sorrowful sniffle. "Why did you have to turn evil and betray my love? I thought you and I… had something special together. After wiping the tears from her eyes with her right hands, she added with blunt anger, "Because of you, I don't fully trust anyone anymore."

Not long after she finished that sentence, the tan feline heard a loud explosion from the T.U.F.F Gadget Laboratory. She could only assume one person responsible for this.

"Hoo boy…" she muttered with a roll of her eyes. "I wonder what Keswick's got cooked up this time."

Kitty quickly runs in to check out the damage, and there she finds T.U.F.F's chief inventor, Keswick lying on the ground covered in burn marks. In spite of these burn marks though, Keswick soon looks at Kitty with deep elation, shouting, "Eureka, Agent Katswell! I've perfected the ultimate way to end r-r-r-riots! You simply put a lime in a coconut shell, pour kerosene in it, throw it, and KABLAMO! No more angry m-m-m-mobs!"

"Wow. I had no idea limes would be SO explosive." Kitty remarked, trying to keep her obvious sarcasm in check.

Keswick though saw right through it, retorting with a frown, "HA! You laugh now, Agent K-k-katswell. But, soon, I shall soon how handy these babies will b-be."

"Yea, I'm sure you will…" she replied, rolling her eyes, this time away from his line of sight. After a long pause, Kitty then cleared her throat, now saying in a more serious tone, "Listen, Keswick, I've been meaning to ask you about the top secret weapon I requested you to build for me about a month ago. Did you finish it yet?"

"Ah, you mean the new high tech P-p-plasma rifle?" he inquired with a smile. Keswick quickly went to retrieve it from a special plexiglass case, adding, "Well, fortunately for you, I've pretty much have the weapon f-finished. I just need to run a few more t-t-ests, make some modifications to its design, build a couple more ammo clips for you, and it should be ready to g-g-go."

Once it was in Kitty's hands, she looked at the new weapon admirably, even gently rubbing the top end of it with her hand. The Plasma Rifle was a sleek, state of the art design, with a color scheme of blackish gray, chrome plated on the top end, and yellow lining around a few of the edges.

"I can't wait to use this baby on D.O.O.M." the tan feline stated with deep satisfaction on her face. "It might be just the thing I need to finally help me take them down for good."

Hearing this caused the eccentric inventor to look at her awkwardly, saying, "Yes, I s-suppose so. Anyway, you mind if I ask you w-why wanted me to build such a weapon for you?"

"Does it really matter?" Kitty asked bluntly, not wanting to talk about it.

"Well, in most cases, I would say no," Keswick replied. "but this not your typical run of the mill w-w-weapon. This one actually can do quite a bit of d-d-damage if you're not careful."

"I don't need you to tell me that, Keswick." She stated, now deeply annoyed by this conversation. "I'm very aware of what this rifle can do. I studied this type of energy source for weeks in advance. That's why I asked you to build me one after learning how powerful it can be."

"But still, why do you even want to wield such a powerful weapon when we basically just want to neutralize the criminals of Petropolis and imprison them for life?" he asked, still not letting this go. "You are just going to arrest them when you get the chance, right?

This question undoubtedly hit a nerve with Kitty, as she answered with disgust, "Of course I am! What, you actually think I'm going to go all vigilante style on our enemies with this gun when I get it in my possession? I'm really shocked you would even think such a thing. Even I know it's against T.U.F.F policy to kill except in extreme situations."

"I mean no offense to you, Agent Katswell," the eccentric inventor said sheepishly, trying to calm the waters, "b-but I sadly cannot help but question your motives here, especially considering it was only a couple of months ago you were b-betrayed by former Agent J-jack Rabbit."

By this point, Kitty was now deeply angered inside, telling him sharply, "I told you to NEVER bring up that incident again. You know it's a very tender emotional wound right now for me."

"I apologize if this is making you very uncomfortable," he said, again trying to be respectful. "but still, I've noticed that since that incident, you've become very withdrawn and very b-bitter inside. Even the others have commented about it t-too."

"So what if I have?" the tan feline agent shot back. "I'd like to see them shrug off having someone you thought would be there for you no matter stab in you in the back! Jack was one of the few I shared some of my own personal secrets with," she then added with her head down in sorrow, "even a few from my own heart."

"Yes, I-I'm fully aware of that. Agent."

Kitty's eyes soon began to flood with tears, as the moment was an extremely painful one for her to reminisce.

"And then he just stepped on it for kicks," the tan feline stated with deep emotion in her voice, "even laughing in my face when I confronted him after he betrayed me." She eventually looked up at Keswick again, reiterating while wiping the tears away with her right hand, "Of course I took it hard. Who wouldn't? I… fell in love with that creep."

Keswick now was at a loss for words, as he unfortunately did not know what to say to help her due to his own lack of romantic relationships.

After a very long pause, Kitty finally broke the ice, saying with herself now composed, "Look, if you really must know, I just want a weapon that I can to blast through thick metal defenses faster and more efficiently to take down any enemy we face. It's not rocket science that a weapon of that caliber can be a force to be reckoned with in the right hands."

"Yeah, just like your temper, eh, Kitty?" A familiar voice said with a witty retort.

Kitty and Keswick quickly turned around to see who it was, revealing it to be none other than Jake Wolfsbane standing behind them. Jake was a grey wolf wearing a blue biker shirt with black pants, a black baseball cap, his T.U.F.F badge around his neck, and two straps over his chest with guns holstered in them.

"Were you listening in?" Kitty demanded of him.

Jake though just grinned at her, answering playfully, "Maybe, maybe not, malady. I'll let you figure that one out."

"Hello, Agent W-w-wolfsbane." Keswick greeted. "What brings you by?"

Now using a professional tone, Jake replied, "I heard we got a brand new member in our ranks. Is that right?"

"Yeah, Jake." Kitty reiterated with a frown. "His name's Dudley Puppy. And, the Chief almost made him my new partner. The last thing I need is a rookie tagging along with me."

"I see…" the grey wolf stated, rubbing his chin. "Well, believe it or not, I was actually hoping to become your new partner, Kitty. I've been here longer than that Puppy fellow." He then added with the same arrogant strut as before, "Plus, I can do this."

Almost instantaneously, Jake pulls out his guns, and starts twirling them around cowboy style. After a few twirls, he holsters the guns back into his shoulder straps, where he soon looks on with a big grin.

Kitty slowly gave him a nod for his efforts, stating, "Impressive trick, for a showoff that is."

"Hey, I resent that!" Jake remarked with a frown.

Kitty however ignored his protests, declaring with a big grin of her own, "Too bad they won't be needed once I unleash this little beauty."

Jake immediately let out a humph in response, muttering with a frown, "Always the kill joy, aren't you?

"Eh, I just like keeping you humble is all..." The tan feline retorted smugly with a shrug.

Before Jake could answer back, Kitty handed the unfinished Plasma Rifle back to Keswick, telling him, "Here, go ahead and finish up your work on it. I'd like to talk with Jake in private anyhow."

"N-no problem." The eccentric inventor said with a nod. After putting it back in its display case and locking it up, he added, "I need to finish developing those anti-riot c-coconuts bombs anyhow."

"Err, yea… you do that." She then added before he could take three steps, "Hey, as soon as that gun is finished, let me know. I want to use it the split second after for the next mission."

"Will do, Agent K-katswell." Keswick replied with another nod. "See you all l-later.

And with that, the eccentric inventor walked out of the room.

Once he was out of sight and ears range, Kitty finally looked Jake firmly in the eye, telling him, "Look, Jake. Don't take this personal. I appreciate you offering to watch my back, but I don't WANT a new partner, not after what happened between me and Jack. And besides, you were just recruited last year. You've still got a lot to prove here."

"I've got nothing to prove." Jake argued with a frown. "Let's not forget when I was part of the Petropolis SWAT team, I was one of the best members they had. I think that speaks for itself."

"Yeah, until you got kicked out for disobeying an order to stop pursuing Birdbrain that is…" Kitty countered.

"Hey! That blue-bottomed booby had it coming to him!" the gray wolf shot back angrily. "I did what I had to do."

"That's still no reason to use brutal force when ordered not to." Kitty countered, now starting to get angry herself. "There is such a thing as chain of command."

Jake though scoffed at her words this time, saying with a slight chuckle, "You're really one to talk about ethics, Agent, having Keswick here build you a super weapon to blast all the criminals to bits."

"Hey, I already explained my position on that." The tan feline argued. "I just wanted it to help me take down the criminals faster. There's nothing wrong with that."

Jake though didn't buy a word of it, retorting, "Uh huh… and wanting this weapon has nothing to do with the fact you're still steamed about being taken advantage of by someone you loved? You ought to be a stand up comedian if you think I'm going to buy that garbage."

Kitty now completely lost her cool, shouting with a fierce growl, "Jake, I swear you can so pig-headed sometimes!"

Ironically, a pig agent was nearby and overheard this, asking with arched eyebrows, "What did she say?"

"Sorry, dude. Nothing personal." Kitty told him sheepishly. She then looked Jake in the eye again, this time more firmly than before, stating sharply, "Look you, I work alone now. When Keswick finishes that gun, I'm going to put it to good use and strike fear in the hearts of those criminals. All of them, ESPECIALLY those who helped Jack betray me will soon rue the day they ever turned to the dark side."

Jake instantly let out a hearty chuckle, telling her, "Girl, you are completely out of your mind. You're going to get yourself killed, and all because you want to get even. How stupid is that?"

"Shut up!" Kitty shouted at him, gritting her teeth in a rage. "I didn't ask for your opinion. If you don't have anything helpful to say, then zip it!"

By this point, Jake deeply pitied the tan feline agent, saying with a shake of his head, "My my, my… I had a feeling you were losing your nerve after Jack back-stabbed you. But now? I'm fully convinced. You're obviously out for blood, and yet you criticize me for wanting to do whatever it took to take down Birdbrain." Now looking her in the eye, the gray wolf told her softly with sadness, "I have to say, Kitty, I'm very disappointed by your conduct here. I thought you were better than this."

Hearing Jake's blunt statement caused Kitty to heavily stammer, as she knew deep down he was right about her true motives for wanting Keswick to build her a Plasma Rifle. Nevertheless, she eventually let out another yell of anger, shouting, "Forget it! I don't know why I even brought this up with you. This is why I don't want you or anyone else as my partner. None of you understand at all what I'm going through! You guys are just a bunch of disgusting pigs!

And with that, Kitty stormed off in a furious huff.

Not surprisingly, the same pig agent spoke up again, saying in Kitty's direction, "Hey, that was uncalled for!"

"AGAIN, she wasn't referring to you." Jake told him deeply annoyed. "Get a grip."

"Oh… Well, it still wasn't very nice of her." The pig agent shot back.

Just then, Keswick came running inside, asking, "Did I miss s-something? Agent K-katswell looked really upset when she walked past me."

Jake let out a sigh in response, telling the eccentric inventor, "Don't let it concern you too much, Keswick. She obviously is going through some real personal issues now that she'll have to sort out on her own."

"I see…" After a brief pause, Keswick said to the gray wolf, "Although, it sounded like you really h-hurt Kitty's feelings. Maybe you ought to go m-make amends with her later on.

With another sigh, Jake replied to him, "I suppose I should. Eh, I'll let her cool off for a bit first though. She's probably too steamed to talk now anyway."

While this was going on, Kitty soon returned to her cubicle again to gather her thoughts. This time, she looked at a photo of her father sitting on her desk. Her father, Sean Connery Katswell, was T.U.F.F's No. 1 agent back in the day, until his unfortunate death two days after Kitty was born.

Holding the picture tightly in her hands, Kitty again begins to tear up inside, saying, "I sure wish you were alive now, Daddy. You would have been a purr-fect partner for me. I know you would never… turn on me like Jack did."

Kitty then lowered her in guilt for her recent outburst, adding, "I don't know if I'll ever trust anyone fully again. Every time someone tries to get close to me now, I keep my distance." After a long period of silence, the tan feline agent eventually composes herself, stating boldly, "Well, one thing I do know: One day I'm gonna find Jack and his group of thugs. And when I do, they will NEVER know what hit them. That's a promise."

* * *

An hour later, Jake finally walked over to Kitty's cubicle to make up with her.

"Kitty, can we talk?" he asked.

Kitty quickly looked up at him, replying with a slight nod, "Yea, sure I guess… what's on your mind?"

"Listen, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything back there." He explained softly. "I was only trying to talk some sense into you. The last thing we need is you going on a suicide mission by yourself."

"No, it's ok, Jake." Kitty replied with a heavy sigh. "I know you didn't mean to offend me. I'm really sorry for yelling at you earlier and calling you a pig. It was rotten of me to say that."

"True, but I can clearly see you're not yourself now." Jake said with an empathetic look. "So, I didn't take it too personally."

"Well, that's good to know." With another long pause, Kitty soon looked him in the eye again, saying, "Listen, Jake. I really… need someone to understand my feelings about this instead of being told me constantly to get over it. It's not easy for me to just let this go and pretend it never happened. That's not who I am as an individual."

"Yea, I can see that…" he stated with a nod. After a brief pause of his own, he told her bluntly, "But seriously, Kitty, whether you want to hear this or not, you're going to have to find a way to move on. It's turning you into a completely different person, one none of us like to be around at all. No offense."

Kitty knew deep down Jake was right about this, but sadly was too stubborn to admit it to him personally.

"The truth is…" he continued. "Everyone here at T.U.F.F is very worried about you now. Not to mention all of us really miss the old Kitty too. She was a lot more fun and interesting to be around."

"You really mean all of that?" she asked, now deeply touched by his words.

"Of course…" Jake replied with a smirk. "We're like a family, are we not?

After he put it that way, Kitty could not help but smile back at him saying, "Thanks, Jake. I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Kitty."

Kitty then chuckled slightly, commenting, "You know, you can be kind of sweet when you want to be."

"Eh, what can I say? I'm a bit of a ladies man." The gray wolf stated with a sly shrug.

Kitty didn't agree with that assessment at all, but said instead to not be rude, "if you say so…" She then furrowed her brow in deep thought, adding, "You know, I should go talk to the Chief again."

"What about?" Jake inquired with curiosity.

"Well, I've been thinking… I may not want a new partner, but I suppose I can at least show Dudley the ropes about how to be an agent here."

"You sure you want to do that?" Jake asked her with arched eyebrows.

"Yea, why not?" Kitty replied with a shrug. "I mean, he admires me a lot. Besides, I might as well give him a few pointers here since he's going to need a lot of help understanding how to thrive in this agency."

Not even two seconds after she finished that line, Dudley soon came running in, chasing his tails aggressively, shouting, "WHOA! There it is, again!" Within moments however, the large white dog quickly realized what he was doing, saying sheepishly to save face, "False alarm, everyone! It's just a tail! Heh heh..."

"Maybe you should reconsider partnering with yours truly instead." Jake stated, not amused at all by Dudley's behavior.

Hoo, boy… Kitty thought to herself with a moan while face palming. Great… me and my big mouth.

Jake soon saw her pained expression as well, saying with a big grin on his face, "You know, it's not too late to change your mind on this. I don't think the Chief would care at all if you picked me for your partner instead of that mutt."

Kitty was very tempted to take him up on his offer, but instead replied politely, "No thanks, Jake. I said I was going to help him and I want to be agent of my word."

Seeing she was serious about this, Jake instead shrugged at her stubbornness, saying with a roll of his eyes, "Allrighty then, good luck to you on that." He then added with a hearty chuckle as he walked away, "You're sure gonna need it."

While he walked away, Kitty said to herself with disgust, "I'm sure starting to regret bringing him here. How in the world did he pass the academy's courses acting like such a goofball?" Nevertheless, she composed her frame of mind again, adding, "No matter... He deserves a chance at least before I write him off. I'll take him to the dojo and get him some professional training. Who knows? He might actually shine here one he knows what to do. I hope…

Not surprisingly, Kitty felt the chances of that happening were very slim at this point.


End file.
